has anyone done this?

I want to do it to to clean the plates on my engine, they are made of iron. Do i just chuck em in? use dishwasher powder? what?

Cheers

 

Wife will throw **** fit !!! take them to a car wash, lay them down, and blast them with hot soapy water

 

No wife, mother - and ive already cleared it with her :P

 

Don't use standard water. It will cause the coolant passages to start rusting once they dry. Use a parts washer and some cleaning solution to soak/scrub them.

 

Could he just dry them immediately with clean towels and then coat with clean motor oil or 3 in 1 machine oil?

 

Take them to get steam cleaned.

 

You can run them through a dishwasher, but it will take several cycles. I would take them to the local transmission shop and let them run in the parts washer overnight. I've never done the steam cleaning, but it also sounds good.

When you see how clean they get you'll be happy you paid $20 for the cleaning.

 

I wouldn't use machine/motor oil in the coolant passages. Maybe something like those Anti-Rust coolant additives might be good. I would still not use a dishwasher. That's why we have parts washers.